Шахова (можно копировать)

manufacturing and handling of a number of materiajs have opened up interesting technical possibilities. 3. In this chapter we have dealt with digital computers which are widely used in different branches of industry.

4. LEARN TO DEDUCE THE MEANING OF WORD

COMBINATIONS

(exs 24—27 to be done in class;

exs 28—30 to be done at home in written form)

Ex. 24. Give Russian equivalents of the hyphenated word groups.

1. A tool-holding hand, a self-limiting process, a take-off point, a 100 light-years-away planet, to move at close-to-the-speed of light, great-grandchildren, would-be travellers, quick-frozen foods, an af­ ter-dinner talk, a man-controlled spaceship.

Ex. 25. Give Russian equivalents of the italicized words.

1. It is quite easy to make a trip to some place you have not been before. It is more difficult to make sure it is really exciting. Yet the most difficult thing is to make contact with the people you meet. 2. We must take advantage of whatever process takes place. 3. The English proverb says, “Where there is a will there is a way ”. Some people willfind ways to do almost anything, in the same way as birds will fly. It is their way of life, and they will not stop half way.

Ex. 26. Give Russian equivalents of the V+Adv. groups.

1.Catalysts are used to accelerate reactions or to slow them down.

2.Before setting out on a long journey make up a list of things that you will need. 3. This exciting problem was brought up during the discussion.

4.The new data obtained were brought in to complete the table. 5. When crossing a street he was caught up in heavy traffic. 6. Leonov was the first to step out into open space, and the new word “to leonovize” is now used to describe the movement of man in space. 7. A special team is to go off into space to clean up the mess of artificial bodies and their remains which endanger the flights of spaceships. 8. The preparation was frozen and kept in deep freeze for several hours, and then thawed out. 9. No one has yet put forward any facts which contradict the atomic theory. 10. Having learned how fibres are built in nature the scientists set about making them in the laboratory. 11. The scientists have developed precise technique to single out each component. 12. Most people would

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like to get away from the daily routine when they are on holiday. 13. It is not so easy to figure out what will be the outcome. 14. We had better hurry up. Time is running out.

Ex. 27. From the list below choose the proper English equivalent of the italicized words.

1. It should be kept in mind that sometimes a minute trace of impurity is of great significance. 2. The hypothesis putforward a century ago was later supported experimentally. 3. The stations of the Main Weather Service keep the state of the environment under permanent observation. 4. A wise man changes his mind but a fool never. 5. It occurred to him that the new idea looked very promising. 6. Sofar as this situation is concerned we will not be able to handle it. 7. How can man get awayfrom the sun’s gravitational field?

to advance; to remember; as to; to escape; to deal with; to change one’s opinion; observe regularly; to come into one's mind.

Щк. 28. A. Compare neutral and emphatic ways of expressing quanti­ tative information by giving Russian equivalents of the italicized words.

1. The efficiency o f this power generation cycle is equal to 45 per cent. The efficiency of this cycle is as low as 45 per cent. The efficiency of this cycle is as high as 45 per cent. 2. The discovery was made in the 30’s. The discovery was made as early as the 30’s. The discovery was made as late as the 30‘s. 3. The mind of the robot is housed in a steel casing containing a thousand billion electrical circuits. The mind of the robot contains as many as a thousand billion electrical circuits. 4. The energy required for the earth to escape from the sun’s gravitational field is 2.4 x 10° ergs. The energy required for the earth to escape from the sun’s gravitational field is as high as 2.4x10ю ergs. 5. They took three measurements a day. They took as many as three measurements a day. They took asfew as three measurements a day. 6. The light from Bernard’s star travels six years before it reaches the Earth. The light from Bernard’s star travels as long as six years before it reaches the Earth.

B. From the list below choose the proper English equivalents of the italicized words.

1. В 1959 г. словари все еще определяли слово «компьютер» как «тот, кто делает вычисления». 2. Эта идея возникла еще в конце

XVII века, но потом была на время забыта. 3 В результате опыта

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было получено всего 3 грамма чистого металла. 4. В результате опы­ та было получено целых 3 грамма чистого металла. 5. Сначала идея нашла поддержку только у трех человек. 6. В последние дни они работали по 10—12 часов в день. 7. Они дошли до самой деревни, так никого и не встретив.

as many as; as late as; asfar as; asfew as; as little as; as much as; as early as.

C. Identify words and structures used to express comparison and give their Russian equivalents.

1. The period is at least four or five times longer than we are allowed if we stay here. 2. The reaction rate, under such conditions, was almost two times as high as at room temperature. 3. The velocity is one tenth the sound velocity. 4. The present yield is 70% higher than that obtained the previous day. 5. The results differ by 10 per cent: the first experiment gave the values 10 per cent higher.

been developed in the USA. Earlier such stimulators were driven by electricity. Their operation period was as short as 2—3 years. Hie opera­ tion period of the atomic stimulator is 5 times longer (5 times as long).

The weight of the atomic stimulator is 300 g. It is 100 grams heavi­ er than that of the electric one.

The atomic stimulator makes use of Plutonium 238. Its half-life is as long as 86.4 years. It emits alpha-particles (nuclei of helium atoms). These particles are absorbed by a Shell surrounding the isotope, and, as a result, the shell is heated up to as high as 150° C. Semiconductors convert some of the heat into electricity sufficient to drive an impulse generator which produces as many as 70 weak electrical impulses per minute. The impulses make the heart muscles contract. The temperature

of the stimulator is 2° C higher than that of the human body.

c

Ex. 29. Make up English-Russian pairs of the word groups equivalent in meaning.

1. To be inferior; 2. except for; 3. a way out; 4. in the first place; 5. long before; 6. before long; 7. as long as; 8. this is hot to say; 9. there is no point in; 10. to be in the cards.

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1. Во-первых, с самого начала; 2. выход; 3. исключая; 4. быть хуже; 5. скоро, вскоре; 6. задолго до; 7. до тех пор пока; 8. нет смысла в; 9. суждено быть; 10. это не значит.

Ех. 30. From the lists below choose the proper English equivalent of the italicized words.

A. 1. Эта проблема уже давно стала предметом тщательных ис­ следований. 2. Человек мечтал о полетах к другим планетам задол­ го до начала космической эры. 3. Чтобы освоить космическое про­ странство, человек должен научиться жить и работать в нем дли­ тельное время. 4. Нам нужно приступить к решению этой проблемы как можно скорее. 5. Пока человек мечтает, он живет.

for a long time; before long; long before; as long as; long.

B. 1. Биосфера может быть пригодной для жизни в течение дол­ гого времени, во много раз более длительного, чем вся история че­ ловечества. 2. Прибор устроен таким образом, что регистрирует одновременно только один параметр. 3. Им 'все время приходилось устранять возникающие неполадки, которые в свое время трудно было предвидеть. 4. За это время можно решить не одну проблему. 5. Время от времени они проверяли показания приборов. 6. Все хо­ рошо помнят тот апрельский день, когда человек впервые проник в космос. 7. Через какое-то время процесс, видимо, закончился.

at a time; all the time; for the first time; after a time; many times the length; in this time; from time to time; for a long time.

5. REVISE IF YOU FORGET

(to be done at home in written form)

Ex. 3 1 . Read the text and translate it into Russian! Give Russian equi­ valents of the English articles where possible.

IS PROGRESS IN SCIENCE DUE TO OBSERVATION

OR CALCULATION?

In 1776 the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode published his celebrated paper on a simple number sequence that seemed to fit the planetary orbits. It soon became known as “Bodes’s law”. The law suc­ ceeded in making two excellent predictions. The first prediction was that a planet should be at a distance of 19.6 astronomical units. The second pre­ diction was that there ought to be a planet in the enormous gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, at about 2—8 units from the sun.

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Alas, the law failed for Neptune and Pluto, persuading many as­ tronomers that the law’s earlier successes must have been accidental. Other astronomers have recently suggested that Pluto may be an es­ caped moon of Neptune, and that before the two bodies separated Neptune could have been near the spot predicted by Bode’s law.

Ex. 32. Read the following sentences, state the function of after, b e ­ fore, since, for, as and give their Russian equivalents.

1. Man will have to create a new combustion material that will serve as the fuel for distant interplanetary travel. 2. As meteorites enter the atmosphere, they bum up at once, but occasionally a meteorite after passing through the atmosphere would hit the earth. 3. As will be shown, the origin of organic matter can be traced back to the origin of inor­ ganic matter. 4. After the invention of the radio telescope, it became possible to send out meaningful messages far into the universe. 5. After formulating the problem, the scientist should choose, modify or de­ sign the procedures for the experiment. 6. Before the dawn of |ife on the earth, our planet must have resembled some distant planet like Jupi­ ter, for instance. 7. Shortly before making a touchdown on the moon surface, the luna lander retro motors were put into motion. 8. Before Venera 4 entered the atmosphere of Venus, it ejected an instrumented hemispherical capsule. 9. Studying the earth alone does not afford much information about its origin, for die earth’s atmosphere has changed considerably. 10. Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field is a mystery, for we cannot yet tell whether its source lies in the earth-like dynamo process. 11. It took billions of years for the earth to acquire its present shape and parameters. 12. For thousands of years it had been the dream of man to reach the moon and at last it came true. 13. Radar astronomy began in 1946 and knowledge of the universe has been increasing since. 14. It is only a little over a quarter of a century since man learnt to control the energy of the atomic nucleus. 15. Since intelligence undoubtedly has important survival value, evolution on the earth has generally moved in the direction of more highly-developed brains.

Ex. 33. Read the following sentences, state the function of “provided (providing)" and give its Russian equivalent.

1. The exploration of the universe for alien civilizations might be possible providing the cosmonauts have suitable space travelling provisions. 2. Providing the cosmonauts with durable machines and adequate supply of fuel will facilitate their exploration of the universe.

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3. The possibility of life existing elsewhere in the universe provided added impetus to planetary studies* particularly those of Venus. 4. Since man has nuclear power, he could design a space vehicle for a journey to some far away planet provided he could travel close to the speed of light.

Ex. 34. Read the following sentences and substitute as so o n a s for o n ce where possible:,

1. Once an engine starts running, it will go on running until it runs out of fuel. 2. It became possible to examine solar radiation more thoroughly once rockets and space satellites were available. 3. Once it was believed that man would never be able to travel in space. 4. Once an extraterrestrial civilization is found, scientists will have to find a language to communicate with it. 5. Once Edgar Poe wrote a science fiction story about future balloon travelling in the year 2848.

fix. 35. Read the following sentences and give Russian equivalents of the structures: unless — N, — V(; until — N, — V(; lest — N, — (should) — Inf.

1. A team of selected .men and women could set out in a suitably large spacecraft, prepared to live, breed, and die in space, leaving their children to do the same, until at some unspecified date in the far future they would complete the journey. 2. Until that time approaches, the most promising way to make contacts with high civilization on alien planetary systems is to listen to radio messages from them. 3. Un­ less we realize the possible adverse impact of the long-range effects of our actions, no new approach to the problem of environment can be developed. 4. Do not explain too much lest your explanation should seem dull and make things even less clear. 5. This period cannot be called standard for all inhabited planets unless we have other examples to judge by. 6. Do not use words of your own coinage lest they should lead to misunderstanding.

TEXT STUDY

(to be done in class)

1. Read the introduction to yourself and answer the questions: What is the attitude of scientists towards the problem under discus­ sion? How will the problem be treated in the texts that follow?

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INTRODUCTION

If one were asked to formulate a problem whose solution would interest almost every scientist and would ultimately involve almost ev­ ery science, he would certainly point to the question of whether we are alone in the Universe. This is not to say that all scientists and sciences are actually carrying on search for extraterrestrial life. Indeed, few are engaged in active research, and quite a number in active speculation. The name of Carl Sagan is well known not only to his colleagues but also to all those who are interested in this most exciting problem. In what follows his views are presented in a popular lecture, and support­ ed with flights of fancy by Leo Szillard, who treats the subject as sci­ ence fiction, and with an item by Darol Froman, who'regards it as a joke: A. Search for Extraterrestrial Life. B. A 200-Year Trip in 20 Years. C. Flights of Fancy: Science Fact and Science Fiction. D. Calling All Stars: Interview Broadcast into the Universe.

д е л е , ниже, which serve to connect the sentences into a single text.

Text A. Search for Extraterrestrial life

(to be done in class and continued at home)I

I.Look through the text and following the dominant noun and the subtitles, state the four stages in the development of life dis­ cussed by the author (timelimit — 5 min.).

LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS

1. Man has always been fascinated by the possibility of life on other worlds. As long ago as the second century, science fiction writers were peopling the universe with bizarre creatures. When scientists began to develop instruments capable of analyzing distant planets, they generally dismissed the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It was suggested that the atmospheres and temperature ranges of those planets should be different from those of the earth, which is still the only known life-supporting planet. In recent years, however, scientists have begun to change their minds. They understand how life might have originated under conditions

10*

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that would appear alien to us now. At the dawn of life on earth, its atmosphere must have resembled that of such apparently hostile planet as Jupiter. Accepting the possibility of life is one thing. Proving it is another. It should be emphasized that great interplanetary distance is still the major obstacle to exploration. But scientists are developing machines and techniques for finding life, preparing for the inevitable day when those distances would be spanned — and man would make his first contact with living beings on another world.

INTELLIGENT LIFE ON OTHER

PLANETS

2. The question of whether alien planets have intelligent beings on them is a still more tangled one. It is by no means certain that intelligence of human quality is the normal culmination of evolution. Some conditior may be favourable to life but not to high intelligence. The earth’s oceans for instance, have no appreciably intelligent creatures, except fo 1 mammals such as dolphins and seals. To judge by this analogy, which i risky, an alien planet that is completely covered by water will probabl have no animals more intelligent than the earth’s fish. The huma combination of a large brain and a tool-holding hand is even mofortuitous. It would be expected that a long series of special circumstanc was necessary to develop it. If any of them had been lacking, the ea would have continued for billions of years more, perhaps for the life the solar system, without achieving really high intelligence.

3. On the other hand, intelligence undoubtedly has important surviv value. Evolution on the earth has generally moved in the direction more highly developed brains. Fish have better brains than the marin worms from which they evolved, and amphibians, reptiles and mamm have successively better ones. If man had not developed his large brain| some other mammal, perhaps, the racoon, might have done so in few tens of millions ofyears. Evolutionists suggest that intelligence shoul be in the cards for any planet where conditions are reasonably favourably for it.

4. But does intelligence imply that civilization exists? Here is anothe question hedged with unknowns. In the case of the earth, more tha 200,000 years must have passed between the appearance of the fi men with really large brains and the first human society that could called civilized. But with only one example to judge by, this incubatio penod cannot be called standard for all inhabited planets. It may unusually short or long. In any case, there should be plenty of time. Th

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earth produced creatures capable of technical civilization in about five billion years, less than half of the 13 billion years that the sun would be expected to shine steadily. Since smaller stars of the sun’s type are extremely numerous and shine even longer, their planetary systems might have an even better chance — so far as time is concerned — to develop civilization. '

5. Even when civilization has begun, a high technical civilization is by no means certain. The first civilized human communities were agri­ cultural villages in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago. Since that time, human civilization has experienced many ups and downs. For many long periods, it must have seemed that civilization was a selflimiting process that could never rise above the handicraft level.

CIVILIZATION IN OUTER SPACE

6. At present human culture is in an unprecedented state of rapid development. For' the first time it has become technical and scientific, and has found ways to unlock an apparently limitless storehouse of new powers. Its progress grows faster and faster, all its curves rise upward, and the limit is nowhere in sight. It is tempting to assume that civiliza­ tions on other planets would normally reach the same take-off point and become as progressive and powerful as the Earth’s. Another step is to expect that if they are a thousand or a million years older, they must be vastly more advanced than the Earth’s civilization.

' 7. Neither of these assumptions can be justified by studying the single example of advanced civilization that we possess — that is, our own. Alien civilizations may not develop in the same way as the Earth’s. They may exhaust totally the ready resources of their planets and re­ turn to a more primitive condition. Their individuals and societies may be repelled by change and make sure that it should not take place. They may destroy themselves with all-too-effective weapons.

8. It can be aigued, however, that high.civilization has survival value and will therefore be favoured by cultural evolution. A civilized group would generally prove stronger than a primitive one, and a high technical civilization would overcome a culture that clings to pretechni-

cal ways. It must be mentioned that this has happened so often on the earth that it seems to be a law of nature. It is happening now and therefore, say the optimists, it is safe to assume that some of the plan­ ets that developed intelligent life far in the past would have achieved technical civilization and would be far beyond the earth in knowledge and power.

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II.Paragraph Study.

Read paragraph 1

1. Follow the dominant noun through its transformations into its equi­ valents and pronouns and state the topic of the paragraph. Identify three peri­ ods in the.history of the problem. Characterize the ideas prevalent in each period. Find the sentences which provide arguments for or against the possi­ bility of life on other planets 2. Identify the structures according to Pattern 23 and give their Russian equivalents. 3. Give Russian equivalents of: (they) were peopling the universe with; they dismissed the possibility; to change their minds; alien conditions.

(to be continued at home in written form)

I.Read the text again without consulting the dictionary. In para­ graphs 2 through 5 identify the structures according to patterns 23— 26 and give thdir Russian equivalents.

II.Paragraph Study (consult the dictionary if necessary).

Read paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5.

1. Divide the text into three parts, copy out the dominant noun for each part and write down a title for each part. 2. Give Russian equivalents of: a still more tangled question; it is by no means certain; to judge by this analogy; survival value; here is another question hedged with the unknowns; sofar as time is concerned; (it) has experienced many ups and downs; the handicraft level.

Read paragraphs 6, 7, 8.

Find the words expressing the author’s attitude and state the main idea of this part, either in English or in Russian.

III.Translate paragraphs 6 ,7 , 8 into Russian.

Text B. A 200-Year Trip in 20 Years

(to be done in class)

See if you remember: major; great-grandchildren; to be confi dent; to suspect; meaningful.

II.Look through the text, divide it into an introduction and two part and suggest a title for each part (time limit — 5 min.)

1.If wonderful civilizations exist among the stars, it is only natural that human beings would want to visit them or at least to communicat with them. Both these enterprises are fantastically difficult.

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